PFWD grows bigger, more extravagant in its second outing

The two-day fashion extravaganza, Mercedes Benz-Pakistan Fashion Week Doha (PFWD) gathered a large multicultural audience for an array of designer clothes by some of the most prominent brands from Pakistan’s thriving fashion industry.
Featuring some of the leading labels such as Deepak Perwani, Zainab Chotani, HSY, Ali Zeeshan and Emran Rajput, the two-day fashion event concluded in Doha on Friday, showcasing collections of more than a dozen designers from Pakistan.
Hosted by renowned Pakistani TV host, Ayesha Sana, the bigger and better second season of the PFWD brought before the Doha audience celebrities from Pakistan’s showbiz industry. Imran Abbas, the young TV and film actor, alongside top models from the industry walked the ramp for the grand finale of the show.
“This year’s show pulled even bigger an audience and people came in good numbers on both days. The house remained packed and this is bigger an audience then we were expecting,” Rahat Mansoor, the CEO of PWFD, said at the conclusion of the show.
“And the audience is a mix of members of different expatriate communities besides the local Qatari nationals. This shows that Pakistani designers clothes and brands are getting popular here as well,” suggested Rahat.
Pakistan’s top designer Deepak Perwani opened the show on the first day while designer Ali Zeeshan’s collection closed the day one. Top designer Hassan Sheharyar Yasin, popularly known as HSY, concluded the show with a grand finale on the last day.
PFWD, introducing a new trend this year, has placed the collections of all the participating designers for purchase at its official exhibiting partners —Bombay Silk and PH Design. The exhibition started yesterday and will end tomorrow.
The 21 participating designers showcased Designers’ Lawn and Fabric; Designers’ Prét and ready-to-wears and Eid Collection
and all their collections will be available for purchase from Bombay Silk Center on Salwa
Road and PH Designs in Barwa Village.
Some of the prominent designers participating in the show from Pakistan were Ishtiaq Afzal, Maria Rao, Ghazo Collections, Samina Shahjani, High Street by Saima Asim, Madiha Gohar, Noman & Bhiya, Tasneem Sadaf, Fashion Factory by Amna Farhan, Iqra by Iqra Saqib, Riwaj by Pink, PH Design, and D&F by Deepak & Fahad.
Choreographed by Imran Kureishi from Pakistan, the Mercedes Benz-Pakistan Fashion Week Doha was co-sponsored by ChenOne, Mytrip, Glam & Glitz, Trinity, City Exchange among other sponsors.
The show was an improvement upon and a bigger event that it’s last year’s inaugural season.
“There is always room for learning. And there are always some mistakes or loopholes but we learnt from our last experience and this time we changed the things that did not go well during last year’s show,” said Rahat.
She said a particular focus was given to the hosting of the event and PFWD this year invited Ayesha Sana who did a “wonderful job”. Besides, the organisation was professionally handled, she added.
“We had arranged for confirmation of participation from our guests who were invited and accordingly the seating arrangement was made so that nobody faces any inconvenience. And this is a very important aspect of organisation as nobody would want to go through any trouble on their weekend, especially when they are coming to see such a grand show,” said Rahat.
The quality and variety in the selection of designers remained a key factor that added freshness to the event and managed to pull big crowds on both days of the show. Rahat said the designers were carefully selected after a lengthy process.
“We check their profiles and their designs. Our top designers of course are already the members of Pakistan Fashion Design Council (PFDC) and need no scrutiny. Their names are already established and big enough,” said Rahat.
However, the upcoming designers were selected after their profiles and products were vetted during a rigorous selection process. Rahat said Pakistani fashion designs are fast gaining popularity locally.
“Wearing designer clothes is very popular in Pakistan and I think it is equally so here in Doha. It is an international market and local authorities are doing a very good job in promoting and encouraging the local fashion scene,” said the PFWD CEO.
“Pakistani designers and their products are admired all over the world and they are very popular,” she added.
Rahat said that the biggest difference between last year and this was the branding. “Now, it is branded as a Mercedes Benz show and I think there are only three Mercedes-Benz brandings in the world such as Milano, US and Paris; and now the fourth is PFWD,” she said.
She thanked the title sponsors of the event, Mercedes-Benz whose executives were happy with the turnout. The event was attended by a number of diplomats, top Qatari businessmen and women and VIPs from different communities.